Physical Limits on Cellular Sensing of Spatial Gradients

Bo Hu, Wen Chen, Wouter-Jan Rappel, and Herbert Levine
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 048104 – Published 23 July 2010
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

Many eukaryotic cells are able to detect chemical gradients by directly measuring spatial concentration differences. The precision of such gradient sensing is limited by fluctuations in the binding of diffusing particles to specific receptors on the cell surface. Here, we explore the physical limits of the spatial sensing mechanism by modeling the chemotactic cell as an Ising spin chain subject to a spatially varying field. Our results demonstrate that the accuracy to sense the gradient direction not only increases dramatically with the cell size but also can be improved significantly by introducing receptor cooperativity. Thus, receptor coupling may open the possibility for small bacteria to perform spatial measurements of gradients, as supported by a recent experimental finding.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 30 April 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.048104

©2010 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Bo Hu, Wen Chen, Wouter-Jan Rappel, and Herbert Levine

  • Department of Physics and Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0374, USA

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 105, Iss. 4 — 23 July 2010

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×